Pan Africanism : Black Panthers 10-point program

This is the Black Panthers 10-point program. I was wondering if anybody had any points on how these points are as a group, or individualy still relevant today. The reason why is because I'm writing a research paper on how it could help improve today's society and many of you seem to have very intelligent views and posts. All responses are welcome. PEACE

1) We want freedom. We want power to determine the destiny of our Black Community.

2) We want full employment for our people.

3) We want an end to the robbery by the capitalists of our Black Community.

4) We want decent housing, fit for shelter of human beings.

5) We want education for our people that exposes the true nature of this decadent American society. We want education that teaches us our true history and our role in present day society.

6) We want all Black men to be exempt from military service.

7) We want an immediate end to POLICE BRUTALITY and MURDER of Black people.

We want freedom for all Black men held in federal, state, county and city prisons and jails.

9) We want all Black people when brought to trial to be tried in court by a jury of their peer group or people from their Black communities, as defined by the Constitution of the United States.

10) We want land, bread, housing, education, clothing, justice and peace. And as our major political objective, a United Nations-supervised plebiscite to be held throughout the Black colony in which only Black colonial subjects will be allowed to participate, for the purpose of determining the will of Black people as to their national destiny.

As a group I find that the 10 point program of the black panther party are still relevant to today's black community. As unfortunately the black community as a whole have not achieved the level of prosperity in American society as other groups have. I will however respond to each point in numerical order:

1) We want freedom. We want power to determine the destiny of our Black Community.

This is relevant; however, it isn't so much as demand as it is a realization. We already have the power to determine our destiny, we just have to make changes (achieve the other 9 points) if our destiny is going to be a positive one.

2) We want full employment for our people.

Full employment (or close to it) is a must if African Americans are going to prosperous in America. We must also strive to obtain high paying, and high influential jobs, which education plays a factor in. Also African American must work harder towards owning business and employing other blacks. I think we get into trouble by always depending on the white community to obtain employment. In doing so we continue to leave ourselves open to discrimination (in terms of hiring, promotion, salary, etc).

3) We want an end to the robbery by the capitalists of our Black Community.

Relevant but we can help end this ourselves by opening more black businesses to meet the needs of our community. As long as we continue to be content being consumers. We place ourselves at the mercy of outside corporations.

4) We want decent housing, fit for shelter of human beings.

Still relevent for obvious reasons. Also more African Americans need to become homeowners. We are being shut out of the most basic American right...the most basic expectation (home ownership).

5) We want education for our people that exposes the true nature of this decadent American society. We want education that teaches us our true history and our role in present day society.

Very relevant.

6) We want all Black men to be exempt from military service.

This is one that I don't believe is still relevant. This was written during the Vietnam War, when the draft was in effect. People were being sent to war against their will, and blacks were drafted in greater numbers (by percentage) than whites. However today the military is voluntary, and their are benefits to being in the military (at least during times of peace). If you voluntarily join the military, the condition is that you might have to fight...that is an individual choice.

7) We want an immediate end to POLICE BRUTALITY and MURDER of Black people.

Revelant because police brutality was, is, and will continue to be a problem in the black community until it is addressed.

8) We want freedom for all Black men held in federal, state, county and city prisons and jails.

Not revelant. All black men don't need to be freed because many are guilty and belong in jail. However it is unquestionable that racism exist in the US justice system, and that many blacks men (and women) are unjustly imprisioned. Therefore I would suggest a retrial (with black jurors) for those who were jailed under questionable circumstances.

9) We want all Black people when brought to trial to be tried in court by a jury of their peer group or people from their Black communities, as defined by the Constitution of the United States.

As stated above, agree 100%.

10) We want land, bread, housing, education, clothing, justice and peace. And as our major political objective, a United Nations-supervised plebiscite to be held throughout the Black colony in which only Black colonial subjects will be allowed to participate, for the purpose of determining the will of Black people as to their national destiny.

I think a similar group needs to be formed because even though many of the points listed in the original BBP are still very relevant today, I don't think there is a group/organization that currently exists that can effectively carry them out. That's the first thing.

Secondly, the points were not designed to be static--never to be changed. They were on point to address what was happening at the time in Black America. So they are truly dynamic in that they are flexible and should evolve to address and meet the demands of our current Black society. So keep what is still relevant and re-vamp those points that aren't.

One thing is for certain, the 10-point program was designed by some deep thinking, intelligent and very courageous Black people with a vision and a purpose.

I think Blacks need to be more aggressive and assertive about the condition of our community and how we're treated. We need to take the message back to the streets and stop allowing ourselves to be isolated, alienated and trying to confine our efforts within the corporate/political structure.

I say we reinstate the black berets and the black power fist raised in the air! That's how we should greet each other instead of the passive fraternity handshake and chest bumpin' we see today...

How could any program/declaration/treaty that calls for the equality and liberation of African-Americans not be relevant today? As long as we continue to be denied equal access to adequate housing, employment, health care, etc than programs such as the 10 point program are necessary.
Monster, yes we do need to be more aggressive but as long as you have people like Keme pointing fingers and placing blame how can we obtain the cohesiveness we need to collectively move forward?